Early life :
Thomas was born on December twenty five, 1987 to parents Bobby and Katina Thomas within Montrose, Georgia. He was nicknamed "Bay-Bay" in mention of the his father's nickname, "Boo-Boo. " Thomas attended West Laurens Senior high school where he played basketball and football as a broad receiver. As a junior in 2004, he documented 32 receptions for 330 yards and three touchdowns. Jones was named an all-region and all-Heart of Atlanta player. The following season, he recorded 82 receptions with regard to 1, 234 yards and ten touchdowns. After the growing season, he participated in the North-South All-Star game. Thomas was again selected being an all-region and all-Heart of Georgia, and the Atl Journal Constitution named him to its Class AA all-state very first team and PrepStar to its All-Region team. Scout.com assessed him as the 22nd-ranked college prospect in the state of Georgia, and Rivals.com rated him the 34th-ranked such prospect. He received scholarship offers from Duke, Georgia, and Georgia Tech.
College Career :
He chose to attend the Georgia Start of Technology where he majored in management. Thomas sat out the 2006 season like a redshirt. In 2007, he saw action in just about all 13 games including 10 starts, and recorded 35 receptions for 558 yards to rank since the leading Georgia Tech receiver by a wide border. In the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl, he made four receptions for 69 yards along with a touchdown. The Sporting News named Thomas to its freshman All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) first team along with a freshman All-America honorable mention.
In 2008, Paul Johnson was hired since the head coach and implemented the run-heavy triple choice offense. Thomas considered transferring but decided against this. During the season, he recorded 39 receptions for 627 yards and three touchdowns since the leading receiver. [3] Despite being a heavily run-oriented program, as one of the team's few experienced gamers, Thomas recorded relatively high numbers. Still, compared with other receivers within the Atlantic Coast Conference, such as leader D. T. Boldin of Wake Forest, Thomas' statistics were a lot smaller. He said, "Sometimes I think about [not getting many passes], but more often than not I just want to win. " Thomas' mark was the very best of any wide receiver from the school because Calvin Johnson in 2006. Against Duke, he captured nine receptions for 230 yards, the second-most inside a single-game in school history.
In 2009, during their Junior (redshirt) year at GT, Jones had a breakout season with 46 receptions with regard to 1, 154 yards and 8 touchdowns. This gained him 1st team All-ACC honors. He finished his career at Georgia Tech with 120 catches for just two, 339 and 14 TDs.
Many draft experts had him gaining momentum along with NFL scouts going into the last couple weeks prior to the draft and most had him as the main or two-rated wide receiver, along with Dez Bryant, within the 2010 NFL Draft, including Sporting News. On The month of january 8, 2010, he declared his entrance to the actual 2010 NFL Draft.